Sensei and Student
by Masaichu
Summary: It's her first year of school. It's his first year of teaching. This is the story of a girl, and her teacher, parents, friends...And the memories that wouldn't fade with summer. Various Pairings.
1. First New Day

If you were to look at the many junior-high and high school students on this particular day, you would find faces full of sullen expressions, of sadness that the joys of summer had slipped so quickly through their fingers.

However, if you were to look at five-year-old Yuki Kaai, you would have found a face full of excitement, eyes wide open and having a slight twinkle to them.

An expression that clearly showed the first day of school was an event that she wanted so very badly to hurry along to.

"Daddy, can't you eat faster? I wanna go now!" The little girl protested, fingers curled into tiny fists while pouting up at her bumbling father. A slice of burnt toast was halfway caught between his lips, while at the same time he struggled to fix his tie.

He said something to her, but she couldn't understand the muffled speech through the bread. Though, it was enough to make her break from the pouting and giggle.

"Daddy's funny!" Yuki exclaimed, moving forward to wrap her arms in a hug around her father's leg.

Gulping down the toast as best he could, the blue-haired man gave his daughter a pat on the head and sighed. "Alright, I'm ready now...Do you have your backpack?"

She nodded rapidly, turning around to show off to show off the light red backpack complete with white rabbit charm attached to the side.

"Does it have all of your things?"

"Uh huh!" Yuki looked even more eager now, taking it off and unzipping it to prove to her father that, yes, she had everything and anything she would need at this school place.

"Hold up!" A voice cried out. Yuki turned behind her to see her mother kneel down and place a brown lunch bag into her bag before zipping it up for her. "You almost forgot your lunch, you silly little thing..."

She heard her father chuckle behind her. "Thanks for remembering, Mei-chan." He leaned in to give his wife a kiss, the little girl below them watching curiously about it all.

The brunette woman pushed him away slightly, not wanting her daughter to see such intimate sorts of things. "Later...Get her to school, Kaito, or she'll have a fit I'm sure." A hint of laughter was in her voice.

Yuki was already running for the door when Kaito looked towards her. "W-Wait for Daddy, Yuki!"

--

Tiny fingers twirled at a short, black pigtail. Yuki hated having to ride in the bulky safety seat, but her parents kept telling her that when she was just a little bit older, and taller, that she could sit in the regular chair and put on the seat belt like they did. And when she got even older, she could sit up front, right next to Daddy.

Oh, how she wished she could sit there right now! But Daddy's briefcase was up there, so it wouldn't be very comfy...

"Are you excited for your first day of school, Yuki?" Kaito asked, glancing into the mirror to view the young child's image.

"Yes! Yes, yes! I wanna get there right now!" Her legs kicked about with vigor, not able to wait much longer to find out if school was just as she'd been told.

Would there really be a bunch of kids there to play with? And a big playground to play on every day? And times where she could lay down and nap? And snack time, so she could eat those cookies Mommy always liked making for her?

A sigh escaped the man's lips, however. How fast she had grown, already to the point of being in school?

Hopefully, the years of giving her piggyback rides and reading goodnight stories would not end too quickly. She still had many years ahead of her, what was he thinking!?

As the car turned off the road, Yuki glanced out the window and watched with awe as the elementary school they had passed so many times before came in view.

She'd always wondered what it would be like on the inside.

But she was old enough now that she would spend the next five years or so traversing it's halls.

--

The hallways here smelled clean with new solution, and the walls were freshly painted, just waiting for childish drawings and macaroni art to adorn them in decoration.

Surely, he had everything he needed today, correct?

Shifting his eyes about here and there, the brown-haired man stepped into the classroom which he would soon call his own.

How ironic, it was, that the same room that had been used for orientation of the new teachers would also be the classroom he would be teaching in.

Kiyoteru Hiyama had always wished to teach. Not to teenagers, they were much too hard to handle. He had a hard enough time handling everything else as it was! But children...They were his weak point, it seemed.

So innocent, just waiting to learn the proper ways to speak, to write, to read...

And he would be the one giving them all this and much, much more in the future. It excited him, really, to think that he'd earned his degree and was now here, standing in this classroom that would soon be filled with eager, young learners for their very first day of school.

School...The place they would spend the next twelve years shaping their lives.

And he would be helping them to take the first steps.

Copious amounts of anxiety seemed to come up inside the man at this time. There was always the idea that he could mess up. What if he started these kids off on the wrong foot? Or what if they didn't like him? What if he slipped up and had the possibility of getting fired?

No, no, no!

Sitting down at the large wooden desk, Kiyoteru rubbed his brown hair back with one hand, adjusted his tie and pushed his glasses further up the rim of his nose.

He could this. Just remember what you'd learned in college. Remember that these children depended on you and were frail little things that needed attention.

Remember that-

Anything worth remembering flew out his head when the sound of tiny footsteps clomped into the room. Turning quickly, Kiyoteru spotted a small girl of only five walk in the doorway, wearing a small red dress.

She seemed to be adjusting a hairband that held up her short black pigtails, but the moment she saw him, her attention broke and up she ran to the desk with more then enough bounding energy.

"Why hello there." He spoke softly, smiling his best smile at her. Had to make a good impression...

"Hi! Are you...Are you my teacher?"

Kiyoteru nodded, standing up so as to give her a polite bow. "I am indeed. You may call me Mr. Hiyama."

"I'm Yuki!" She exclaimed almost immediatly after, before remembering to bow too. "Yuki Kaai!" Her eyes followed him as he reached for a clipboard on the desk, studied it, then checked something off.

Yuki studied him over with curiosity. He was tall, very tall compared to her. He had neat brown hair, combed back, and glasses as well that looked very well shined. Black suit, purple tie, black shoes...

He was more like a businessman than a teacher!

"Mr. H...Hiy...am..." She struggled with his name, the syllables refusing to roll off her tongue. He gave her a pitied look.

"You can call me Mr. H if you wish..."

"Sensei!" She blurted in the midst of his words.

"...H-Huh?"

"Sensei...Mommy says kids call their teachers Sensei! So that's what I'm gonna call you!" Yuki explained, before erupting into a fit of giggles.

Kiyoteru stared at the girl with just a slight bit of shock. Her parents had taught her well in knowing things such as that...But it made him smile, nonetheless, to hear someone refer to him as 'Sensei'.

"Very well...You may call me that from now on."

"Oh! Oh! Wait!" Pulling her pack off, the little girl rummeged through it before pulling out a red ripe apple and setting it on Kiyoteru's desk gingerly. "I'm 'spposed to give this!" With a cock of her head, and a large smile, Yuki escaped before he could speak into her own little world, running around the classroom to explore.

The cubbies! The desks! The toys! Oh, the toys! So many toys!

Without even remembering she was alone for now, Yuki sat herself down and begin to play with a tub of wooden blocks.

From his desk, Kiyoteru almost slumped over in awe. So this was what being a father might be like someday, even...

Glancing at the apple still sitting on his desk, he vowed to eat it later before going back to watching the little girl play messily with the blocks on the carpet.

Maybe neither of them knew it at the time it happened.

But he'd found his favorite student.

And she'd found her favorite teacher.


	2. Sorry, Sensei

School had grown onto Yuki quickly after just the first few days. She loved playing on the jungle gym with all the other girls and boys in her class, and eating her apples dipped in caramel for snack time, and of course resting during nap time.

Yes, there was nothing Yuki did not like about school.

But if she had to say what she loved the most, the very, very most of all, it would be her teacher. Sensei was a very funny teacher! He was always tripping on the blocks they accidentally left out, or stumbling over words during story time. One time, he even lost his glasses!

Everyone in the classroom had to get down on their knees and search for them, and eventually they were found and rested against his stressed face.

And that was all just in the first week!

Today was Friday, and Friday was just as fun as all the other days, of course! Mommy had told her though, that on Saturday, the day that came after Friday, there was no school. And not on Sunday either, the day after Saturday. But on Monday, she would come back.

Yuki wouldn't go to school for two days! She felt very sad about this. She loved running up the steps after recess, and chatting together during their lunch and snack times. And she loved being able to see Sensei!

But now she wouldn't get to see him for two whole days...

--

The little cut on her finger sent Yuki running inside the school and into her classroom with tears in her eyes. "Sensei! Sensei! It hurts!" She cried, running to his desk and thrusting her finger up to show the tiny trickle of blood.

Kiyoteru stood up quickly and walked around to the front, kneeling down and holding her tiny hand in his palm to examine it. It didn't look much more injured than that, but the bleeding worried him...

"Stay right here, I'll get a bandage from the nurse." He got up fast and shuffled out of the classroom hurriedly, not wanting to keep her waiting long.

Yuki glanced up towards the desk, trying to forget about her pricked finger. And that was where she saw it.

On the wooden desk, sitting in a simple little frame was a photo of Kiyoteru, as well as a woman Yuki had never seen before. She had red hair that had a large spine-like twirl pointing upwards. But that didn't seem to concern her, it was that she saw her Sensei!

Sensei was in that photo! And that photo was small enough to be picked up in her little fingers. Her eyes fixated on it for a long while.

_'Sensei is in this...And I can hold it! I can see him! If I take with me, I can see him all the way until Mommy says I can come back again! I can put it back when I'm done!'_

Forgetting all about her finger, Yuki cheerfully ran to her cubbie and slipped the framed picture inside her backpack. Sensei wouldn't miss it for two days, after all, and she would bring it back!

With a skip in her step, she ran out the door and back to the playground.

When Kiyoteru came back, bandage in hand, she was nowhere to be find.

--

As soon as she got home, Yuki ran into the living room to show her Mommy and Daddy the thing she'd found at school.

"Mommy, Mommy! Look!" She cried, opening her backpack and dumping it's contents.

"What is it?" Meiko asked, curious as to what had her daughter so ecstatic. It was only when she saw the framed photograph that she realized just what it was. "...Yuki."

"Isn't it great, Mommy? Now I can see Sensei all the time!"

"Yuki, please get your father in here."

"Hm? Why?"

"We have to talk to you about something..."

--

"E-Eh?! Yuki stole that from his desk!?" Cried Kaito, throwing his arms up dramatically with worry. What the school say if they thought Yuki had done such a crime?

"Calm down! We're going to have a discussion with her about this..."

Yuki just sat in her usual seat, watching her parents panic. What she done? She'd just borrowed it...

Her mother sat near her and rubbed her head with a sigh. "Sweetie, do you know what 'stealing' is?"

She shook her head, no. She'd never heard that word before. Her father seemed more calm now, having grasped the thought that she was too young to understand before moving to sit next to Yuki as well before her mother spoke again. "It's when you take something that doesn't belong to you without asking."

"Eh? But I was gonna give it back..." Yuki frowned. Was she in trouble now?

Kaito shook his head a little and ruffled her hair. "But did you ask your teacher if you could take it home?"

That was what she'd done wrong.

She hadn't asked Kiyoteru if she could take it, she'd just thought that he wouldn't mind...

"H-He'd let me! Sensei really likes us, and says we should share! So he was sharing it with me!"

"Did he say he was sharing it, though?" Meiko asked.

Her black pigtails bobbled as her body quivered. She _was_ in trouble! Oh no! Oh no!

"That picture might be very important to your teacher. It wasn't right to take it without asking him first."

Tears welled up in her eyes, and as soon as this went noticed by her parents, they both engulfed her in a light hug. Meiko gave her a gentle smile, while Kaito gave her a few little pats to the shoulder.

"Don't be sad..." He said, letting go of her. "If you tell him that you are sorry, and give it back, he will surely forgive you."

Would he really forgive her though? What if it was a really, really important picture? Like _really_ important?

--

When Monday came, Yuki was, for once, very afraid to go to school. What if Sensei knew she'd taken it and didn't like her anymore? What if she couldn't be in his class anymore? Would her friends be mad at her too?

It took longer than usual for her to put on the same red dress she'd worn on her first day, and even longer still to munch on her cereal for breakfast. Mommy was being extra nice to her this morning, even letting her put sugar on her cereal, but it didn't cheer her up.

She watched Daddy hug Mommy and kiss her cheek, for once actually making it to the door before his daughter. He seemed worried about this, but beckoned for her to come along.

"You don't have to be scared, Yuki..." He said while driving towards the school, "If you just say sorry, it will all be okay."

Yuki said nothing, instead stared down at the picture of Sensei and the woman in her hand while hoping that the car ride would last forever and ever.

--

Other children were already in the classroom when she stepped inside. Timidly, Yuki held the frame behind her back so no one would see it. No one appeared to give her any second look, too busy with a game of Hide and Seek.

When she took another step forward, she saw Sensei sitting at his desk. Except, he didn't look very happy. In fact, he looked very, very sad right now.

He was slumped forward with his eyes halfway closed, as if holding back tears. Sensei wanted to cry! Because she took his important picture! Yuki's chest clenched together, and she tightened her fist around the frame equally as hard. Sensei was really upset over the lost photo...

As much as she didn't want to admit it was her who'd taken it, she knew that if she didn't, he might be sad forever! And she didn't want him sad that long!

Running behind the desk, her free hand reached and tugged on Kiyoteru's pant leg. "S...Sensei...?" She mumbled quietly.

Kiyoteru didn't respond a moment, but finally turned around to meet her gaze when she tugged a second time. "Y-Yes?" His voice cracked, as though he were close to crying.

It was her fault, her fault...

"S-Sensei, I...I'm sorry..." She pulled the frame out from behind her back and presented it to him. "I-I took it...I'm sorry...I wanted to see you every day, but Mommy said I couldn't go to school and...I...I..."

She couldn't say anything else before tears ran down her face and she began to cry. Kiyoteru stared in surprise for a moment, before taking the photo and putting it back on it's place at his desk.

"It's okay, Yuki..." He knelt down and patted her head. "You took it because you wanted to see me everyday...?"

He watched as she just bobbed her head in a tiny nod. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." Yuki repeated herself over and over again, wiping the tears away with her arms, though new ones came.

Before she could say it another time though, she felt herself being pulled into a gentle hug. Her Sensei was hugging her...? But she'd done a naughty thing...

But he wasn't mad, oh no, he was smiling, in fact. Smiling because he'd never felt that a student could feel so much liking towards a teacher, even in one so young.

"Y-You're not mad...?" Her voice quivered.

Kiyoteru chuckled just a bit and shook his head. "No, of course I am not."

"B-But I did a bad thing!" She tried to pull herself away, and he let go, but Yuki stood right where she was.

Sitting back down in his chair, her teacher smiled tenderly. "That is right, you did do a bad thing. But you also did a good thing, because you brought it back and apologized." He reached forward and gave her a small pat on the head. "And that makes you a very good girl, Yuki."

Opening the top drawer of his desk, Kiyoteru reached inside and pulled out a sheet of stickers, before pulling off a golden star and handing it to Yuki, watching as she took it and carefully but quickly slapped it onto her chest.

"I'm not gonna get in trouble...?"

He shook his head. "You got that gold star because you did a good thing."

A large smile replaced the sad frown on her face, and Yuki nodded with glee, happy that her Sensei still liked her very, very much. She turned around to go and play with her other schoolmates, but stopped short and turned to him one more time.

"Sensei...?"

"Yes?"

"Who's the pretty girl in the picture with you?" She asked with wonder.

Kiyoteru paused, stared, then composed himself and was about to say something, but the bell run before he could, and Yuki quickly ran for her desk.

A small sense of relief came over him, though before he stood, his eyes glanced at the picture one more time and drank up every part of the image it could before he got up to begin the second week of teaching.

He'd tell her who the pretty girl was though, someday, he promised.


End file.
